The first round after the summer break is always one that fans and paddock personnel get excited about. But the German round of the WorldSBK calendar hasn’t captured the imagination, because of its remote setting and, for the riders, the bumpy track surface.

With Jonathan Rea easing his way towards the history books as the first rider to win the championship three years in a row, there was a feeling from some quarters that it was merely a matter of marking time rather than making a mark. That being so, once the weekend got underway it did throw up plenty of excitement in what appears to the final race at the Lausitzring.